Under the new partnership with DWP, jobs from 50 London theatres that have signed up to the Diversity Action Plan will be advertised by London job centres and targeted towards BAME workers with relevant skills.

The job vacancies, covering roles in backstage areas include costume, technical, lighting and front of house, will be distributed to job centres across the capital, coordinated by Stockwell Jobcentre Plus.

Applications will then be sifted by the job centres, and the best will be forwarded to the employer. BECTU hopes to roll out the initiative to job centres across the UK.

BECTU head Philippa Childs said: “These are tangible and collaborative steps to take direct action to further implement our diversity plan.

“Working with theatres and the job centres, we aim to find new talent and encourage skills transfers from people from diverse backgrounds. London theatre employers are aware that their workforce is not representative of our city’s population and they want to address this.”

Childs added: “It goes without saying that working in the theatre can be one of the best jobs in the world, and we are pleased the industry is waking up to the creative possibilities of a diverse talent pool of skills to sustain its own future.”

BECTU has also announced that 26 theatres in Wales have signed up to the Theatre Diversity Action Plan.

These include Wales Millennium Centre, the Welsh National Opera, National Theatre Wales and Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru.

BECTU learning and development manager for Wales, Siân Gale, said: “The BAME population in Wales is almost 5% and in Cardiff approaching 16%. Therefore, by not employing BAME people, theatres and arts organisations are missing out on a wealth of creative talent across the craft, technical, production, administrative and other exciting behind-the-scenes roles in a growing, dynamic and global sector.”

We need your help…

When you subscribe to The Stage, you’re investing in our journalism. And our journalism is invested in supporting theatre and the performing arts.

The Stage is a family business, operated by the same family since we were founded in 1880. We do not receive government funding. We are not owned by a large corporation. Our editorial is not dictated by ticket sales.

We are fully independent, but this means we rely on revenue from readers to survive.

Help us continue to report on great work across the UK, champion new talent and keep up our investigative journalism that holds the powerful to account. Your subscription helps ensure our journalism can continue.